Clean Slate
by Cee-face
Summary: A century and a half-ish was probably enough time to simmer, right? -England/China-


_I'd like to talk to you._

England frowned first at the signature of foreign characters at the end. Then he frowned at the idea of note-passing during a meeting. But he only _really_ frowned when he realized that he recognized that signature.

He looked up from the crumpled scrap of paper to glance at China, who appeared to be doodling pandas on his notes and seemed not to take any notice of England's eyeing him. He learned in the early 1800s that talking to China never really turned out well for any party involved, especially if the matter was personal. Which it must have been, or China could have just announced it during the meeting (there _was_ a purpose to their discordant ritual of gathering around this table, after all; it wasn't just a bunch of fancy pretense).

He'd probably pass on whatever it was that the older civilization wanted to ream him over this time. China hit a lot harder and fought a lot dirtier than France did, and England rather liked this suit.

What could he possibly want, anyways?

America, as per the status quo, suggested a totally unreasonable solution for the topic of the day - something about a giant robot to send underwater and burn up all the oil so that the gulf would be clean again - and England shut him down almost in reflex. If asked, he probably couldn't recall exactly what he'd said, it was such an unconscious action. He also almost broke France's toes in his response to the other nation's attempt at playing footsie with him from the other side of the table (he really should have stomped harder, he thought ruefully), but it didn't stop the lewd glances and wiggling eyebrows being sent his way. Japan seemed to be subtly trying to scoot further to the right of his chair - with Korea at his left, the maneuver was understandable. England only noticed this, though, because Japan bumped him in the process and uttered an urgent apology, which went almost unheard beneath the rapid-fire insults of Poland towards Russia. The United Kingdom didn't even want to chance looking over at the corner that housed Eastern Europe.

Through all the chaos, though, China only looked up from his doodles when the topic of fortune cookies was brought up, and even then only clipped out a quick "Stupidest idea ever, aru!" before returning to his business. He was awfully sedate today. Perhaps his mind was focused on whatever he wanted to speak to England about?

Hands slamming atop the desk drew the meeting to a close, and England stood, tucking his paperback underneath his arm and moving to exit the room, dismissing France's hints that they should retire to the hotel early.

The gentlemanly nation made it as far as the lobby before he was addressed again, this time by someone considerably less frog-like.

"Hey, Opium!"

The blond grimaced and continued walking as if he hadn't heard.

"-what, didn't he…opium bastard!"

China was closing in behind him, and was close enough that England could hear him heave a sigh in what sounded like resignation before trying one more time, "England!"

The Kingdom hesitated in his next step - China noticed, and remarked accordingly. "Ai-ya, are you deaf, ahen?"

"Apologies," the European said, relenting to turn and look at the shorter nation. "All the commotion with these idiots, I couldn't hear you."

China huffed and crossed his arms. "You Westerners are so immature," he commented, pointedly turning his nose up. "Didn't you get my note, ahen?"

He decided to play it dumb. "Note? I'm afraid I didn't. You were all the way at the other end of the table; it was probably intercepted on the way to me." He snorted, raising an eyebrow. "Not that such is appropriate behavior for meetings."

The smaller nation's face soured at the possibility brought up by the island. "It was probably Korea, aru," he grumbled, probably to himself, because there was a conspicuous lack of the word "opium" in the sentence. "Well, I want to talk to you."

The naval power pretended to be surprised, but he didn't have to fake his curiosity when he prodded, "About what?"

"It…" China hesitated, something England didn't hear him do very often. He tangled his arms over his chest with a huff, averting his eyes. "…I was wondering if…you'd like have tea together, aru."

England's eyebrows, generous as they were, knitted together in confusion. China was inviting him for tea. China was inviting him for tea without any mention of tense diplomacy, uncomfortable politics, or opium. Reality took its sweet time setting in, and he couldn't stop himself from sputtering, "What?"

The older nation sighed, rolling his neck so that his gaze was aimed even farther down from the island's face. "…at my home, aru. I would just…like to speak with you."

The prim country found himself wondering dumbly if he'd woken up on April Fool's Day. The idea of improving relations with China wasn't something he wanted to turn down, not at all, but if this was some kind of joke on the petite Asian's part, he absolutely refused to make an idiot of himself. "About what?" England pried.

"…nothing in particular, aru," China eventually had to answer, though he did so with notable reluctance. "Just…my president believes that we should work on building our ties, and-" Another sigh, this one brief and somewhat curt. "He is likely in the process of inviting your new prime minister to Beijing right now, aru."

This was certainly a surprise to England. He _did_ recall Cameron making some sort of contact with Hu, but, he didn't think it would actually amount to anything. "And you support this movement?" the taller man prompted, still trying to push past his bemusement.

"-I don't forgive you, ahen," China quickly cut in, his tone defensive and his courage renewed in the glare he gave England. It eventually chipped itself down to a much softer expression, something far more reserved. "But. I guess it is an opportunity for a…'fresh start', aru."

England's lips quirked in a wry smile. "You didn't answer my question," he pointed out.

China's nose wrinkled as he glared again, though this time it lacked the venom of decades previous, giving the look an almost endearing quality. "Well, I'm inviting you over, aren't I, aru?" he shot back, hands on his hips and torso inclined slightly to lean towards the other nation.

The European laughed. "What if I say no?" he challenged.

"Then you miss out on my tea and the lunar eclipse tonight, aru," the Eastern power returned smugly. England's smile faltered in favor of a more puzzled look.

"Lunar eclipse?"

"You won't be able to see it from your house, aru," explained China, completely matter-of-fact. When England merely blinked at him, he took on an affronted expression. "What, you don't want to watch it with me, aru?" he queried pointedly.

"-it's not that," England replied hurriedly, immediately regretting his haste. He cleared his throat and squared his shoulders. "It wouldn't be the worst way to spend my time," he amended, to an offended "ai-ya" from China and some remark about Westerners being so rude. The island allowed himself a small smile. "I'll be there."

"Good, aru! I'll show you how to properly make a pot of tea." China stated this with a smile, and this time it was England's turn to take on a look of offense, sputtering out "see here" and "I can make perfectly good tea" and other such rebuttals. China only laughed, starting out of the building and pausing only once to make sure England was following.

"Let's go, aru," he urged, before adding enthusiastically, "Maybe _you'll _be able to see the rabbit pounding medicine!"

* * *

**A/N:** so like, Hu Jintao (the president of China) totally invited David Cameron (the British prime minister) to visit China on June 26th after Cameron called him on his second day in office with the interest of building a stronger relationship with China. there also happened to be a partial lunar eclipse on June 26th, which i discovered when searching for sources. so i threw that in. logically this shouldn't have taken so long, but i wrestled with it for a while before going "BAH HUMBUG" and finishing it out of pure determination. so yeah! also China is referring to when Japan said the rabbit on the moon was making mochi at the end, if that wasn't clear.


End file.
